When Jon Mulvey joined the DePaul Tennis Club in 2011, membership was sparse. The club was on probation and about to be officially disbanded. There were only five members at the first practice in Oz Park that day. All of them knew the game well, but none had any idea of what it took to run a club. It wasn’t long before the club president passed the duties and title over to Mulvey, and the club began to change.

“He was excited because he no longer had to worry about missed paperwork and random club sports meetings,” Mulvey said. “I was excited because I had found my place at DePaul.”

Since inheriting the presidency, the club has grown from five to 53 members, according to the club website. With the help of his vice presidents, Reid Mutschler and Praveen Kopparapu, Mulvey took a club nearing extinction and turned it into the United States Tennis Association’s Midwest Club of the Year.

Any student who is interested in playing year-round indoor tennis regardless of skill level is welcome. To join, students can simply attend a practice at Lakeshore Athletic Club in Lincoln Park, show proof of insurance and pay the quarterly dues, which are a fraction of what a member would usually pay to use the courts.

Jack Klein, a member of the club’s travel team, takes full advantage of these benefits.

“It’s crazy,” Klein said. “I pay $40 a quarter, and sometimes I get to play three times a week at these facilities.”

More serious members are welcome to climb the ranks for a spot on the club’s travel team. Last year, the travel team was the No. 25 seed in the Badger Classic, the Midwest’s biggest fall tournament, and this year they were seeded No. 6. In October, the team finished in third place at the Illini Invite. It was the best result of a major tournament in the club’s history.

Many of the club’s players could play for a varsity team, if they were so inclined, but prefer the more relaxed atmosphere of a club. The club does maintain a relationship with the varsity teams, though, and hopes to continue strengthening the connection. Varsity coaches Mark Ardizzone and Matt Brothers have been in support of the club, even organizing a girl’s mixer last October, Mulvey said.

“The travel team is an outlet for talented players to keep playing in college without the stress of a full-time commitment,” Mulvey said. “I like to look at us as DePaul’s part-time junior varsity team. We travel, we have fun, but in the end, it doesn’t consume your life.”

Mulvey’s commitment to the club and to tennis at DePaul, however, is full-time. As a student at DePaul’s School for New Learning, Mulvey has even tailored his own major in tennis management.

He was appointed to the USTA Midwest Tennis on Campus Student Advisory Committee, and the club is preparing to host their second annual DePaul Invitational, an eight-team tournament that the club is hoping to expand to 12 this April.

As for the future of the club, Mulvey hopes to qualify for nationals based on performance, which can be difficult for a school of DePaul’s size when pitted against those in the Big Ten. Andrea Kinnerk of the travel team believes this goal is well within the club’s reach.

“Sectionals are in February, and I would say this year we have a chance,” Kinnerk said. “We placed 9th last year, and we were so proud. This year we have more time. Now we’re a completely different team, more in sync.”

Outside of the club, Mulvey has plans for a non-profit DePaul tennis center in Chicago and a curriculum for an official tennis management degree program.

“The tennis center would be community-oriented, entirely self-sustaining, and would be staffed by students within the tennis management program,” Mulvey said. “It would also give both varsity teams as well as club tennis a place they can truly call their own.”

In the meantime, Mulvey said to keep a watch on the club’s website and YouTube channel for any important club information and progress as they continue to grow. Winter club practices begin Tuesday.